The New Jersey Devils had a great chance to gain some ground in the race for one of the Eastern Conference’s final two playoff spots on Monday. Instead, the Calgary Flames spoiled that opportunity and greatly reduced the Devils’ chances of making the postseason, beating them 1-0 tonight.

If losing to (an admittedly scrappy) team well outside of the playoff race doesn’t sting enough for the Devils, fans might wince at this one: this regulation defeat clinched a postseason berth for their local rivals the New York Rangers.

Another Devils rival in Philly probably cheered the Flames on tonight, too:

With Devils loss, #Flyers can now clinch a berth by winning tomorrow night in Florida.

At 18:34 of the first period in the Calgary Flames/New Jersey Devils game, video review supported the referee’s call on the ice that Ryan Carter kicked the puck into the Calgary net. According to Rule 49.2“A goal cannot be scored by an attacking player who uses a distinct kicking motion to propel the puck into the net.” No goal New Jersey.

Whatever way the Devils spin it, things aren’t looking so hot as New Jersey remains seated at 84 standings points with three games left. Check out their shaky situation via the updated standings:

Ya, you are right, how can I expect alleged professional writers to take the time to proof read the novels they post on a blog site.

letsgolightning - Apr 7, 2014 at 10:57 PM

Man, Calgary is looking good lately… 9-5 in their last 14. It’ll be interesting to see if this turns into something heading into next season. Cammalerri is their only big UFA and they’re still $24M below the projected cap *floor* heading into next year. Not a bad situation to be in.

Anybody else ever do that thing where all of a sudden you realize you spent the last hour looking through capgeek?

Nice job Calgary! The Devils were making me nervous. The Flames have done a pretty decent job of acquiring young talent the past couple years and they’ve clearly passed the Oilers in the rebuild race. And they didn’t have the benefit of three straight top picks. I’m excited to see how Johnny Gaudreau and their other prospects look in the NHL.

atwatercrushesokoye - Apr 7, 2014 at 11:44 PM

Gaudreau has been awesome, obviously; Poirier has been great in the Q this year, if Gatineau loses he’ll be on his way to Abbotsford for the playoffs. And don’t look now but not only are the young players once again playing well in Abbotsford (their downswing coincided with their best players being with the Flames) but Sven Baertschi just put up 7 points in 2 games this weekend with the Heat.

I’ve never been quite as excited for the Flames future as I currently am!

atwatercrushesokoye - Apr 7, 2014 at 11:50 PM

Where would the Flames be right now if Ramo had been given the chance to play earlier in the year instead of them continually going to Berra early in the season, when from the outset looked clearly to be the inferior goalie?

If Giordano hadn’t missed 18 games?

If the 3 week stretch during late December/early January where they looked as bad as most people thought they would be had only lasted for a week and half?

The Flames have played in 47 one goal games this year, they’re really not as far away as people might think if they were to judge the team based purely on standings.